my mom

mei chun chan
december 21, 2006

i first encountered you
as a feisty, energetic girl of
sixty-three––

frisky, playful, mysterious––
appearing and disappearing
as if out of nowhere––
leaving gifts of food
for the soul––

pastries, cookies & pudding.

i was born––
the youngest male child
in your life––

in love, open-eyed,
curious, I could not
speak; did not know
how to eat; did not
even have a
name.

yet we wordlessly
understood our
togetherness from the
first.

i am a child of your
blood; the husband of
your middle daughter;
a bowed-headed
member of your
family.

there is much
love between
us––

closer than all the
continents of the
earth––

pure as a dream
of pure
dreams.

fate will not allow
death to come
between
us––

for it is a certainty
that we will
smile together
again.